Construction of dams



I Nov. 20, 192.3.-

' F. N. CRONHOLM CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS Filed April 21' 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTO R N EY W Ill *6 l I I i I a I l 3' I; k

I I Hil III I O q WITNESS'ES VAE Nov.- 20, 1923. V

F. N. CRONHOLM CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1923.

,FREDERIGK 1\T. CRONI-IOLIM, OF-A'NDRADE, CALIFORNIA. I

' CONSTRUCTION on prints.

"Application-filed April 21,1921. seria no; 463,141.

"1T0 all whom it may concern:

,Be it'knoWn'that:I,- FRnnERIoK N. CRON- -HoLM, .a citizen .of-th'e:UnitedfStates, residing at Andrade, in -,th,e.count of Imperial wwhieh may be ofbuoyant form and which, when subjected to-theflow offay stream, so

,that the Water will-engage the thin edge; of .the wedge} and the-.wedge is' heldiat an appropriate angle, aWlll cause the wedgeto dive .and ultimately rest'upomthe bottom of the stream Where itisheldby the flow of-water until 1 sand or silt-gathers upon the mattress and' weights it downto ultimatelyanchor it inplace.

.7 .Bythe employmentof asuitable number of the Wedge shaped mattresses, the dam maybe. builtupby'the action of the stream.

v -until. the desired hei-ght of dam, and consequent depthofwater, iis-obtained. V

v The invention will be best understood from a consideration-of the following detailed description taken in .1 connection with the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis specification, with' the understanding, however, that the invention isnotconfined to any strict conformity with the showingv -of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and'modifications mark no --material departure"from the salient features of the invention as ex pressed in the appended claims. v In'the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a moreor -less schematic'view of an actual installation of-the invention.

Fig. 2 isz-a crosssectionz through a river bed showing, more: or less- Jschematically, the

' same installation.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view in section.

of the river bed,ishowing-the-placing of the mattresses and j-he m-anner; of E anchoring the .Fig. A is ..a

'PhnjY Q 'Q one-of ,the, mat- .tresees. M

Fig. c5lis aside view thereof. I I

which the -mattress is builtup.

Fig. 7 is an end yiew ofthe=1arger end" of the mattress.

i In Figs; 4, 5,*6=an d 7,-no attempt is made to show any particular proportions for such :proportions may vary within wide limits. Fron'r the practical point ofview, the inven tion has been tried I out on the Colorado River, and'has proven successful inclosing the stream where -it=isifrom "to :feet

-.deep and approximately-800feetawide. pl

In carrying. out the 1 invention, a suitable number of mattresses "A :are employed,--whicl1 mattresses "are "made up of .longitudinal beams 1 and cross beams 2, constituting top and bottom frames, each ofWhichThas the longitudinal and I cross beams secured "t0- gether in lanyappropriate manner, as by spikes or bolts*3,-together withropesor cables 4, with an: interior filling between the frames of bundles 5,-Wliich may be composed of brush or similar-material. The top-"and bottom frames are arranged at an angle to each other,so that theyvdefine a wedge of considerableheight-at one endEandapprOach- 'ing to an'approximate point or edge-at the other end.

Thewe'dges or balesof brush and timbers in the actual installation each approximate 10 feet wide, 14:;feet1high atthe back or downstream end, and fr0m?27 to feet-long, but it is to be understoodv that these figures are notat all mandatoryf The'top and-bottom frames that confine the-bundles of brush together 'may be constructedio'f 8 inch round Fig. 6 is a plan view of a bottomframeon;

timbers, While the bundles of brush compos-.

ing the mass..-are fst'acked crosswise and lengthwise in alternate layers or: in any other :manner which will givethe "mostcompacte nessxfor the size required, and then the whole mass is made-.morecompact by :pressure on the .top" and bottom frames, which-are fastened vwith steel cable.

There are also employed an appropriate",

number. of dolphins 6, composedof groups f piles driven into i the bedof the river,

witheach dolphinembraced-by a suitable number of loops 7- formed'in cables 8, which cables --extend from the loops :7 toa point 9 about midway of thelength of a damr'elev ment or bale A ionzthezuppen or sin'clined sur ifacerthereof soathat whenztheswe'dgmishaped bale is floating on the surface of the stream represented at 10, the force exerted upon the bale is that due to the flotation of the bale A and the pull on the bale dueto the force'of flow of the stream, resulting in the depression of the pointor edge of the bale which is upstream below the surface of the stream, whereby the tendency of the resultant forces is to cause the bale to dive to.

V fill them and thereby automatically weight the bale until it becomes heavier than the water displaced thereby and so remains anchored on the bottom of the stream irre spective of, though aided by, the cable 8.

In Fig. 3, there is indicated a barge 13 equipped with suitable machinery for driving the piles making up the dolphins 6, and

. for placing the loops 7 of the cables 8 over the dolphins to anchor the mattressesagainst the force of the down flow of the stream.

In order to anchor the barge in any position crosswise of the machine, there is provided an overhead cableway 1 lsuspended from towers 15 on opposite banks of the stream. Further down stream, so as to carry the assembled brush elements A into position, is another cableway 16 crosswise of the stream and supported from towers 17. The cable 16 is shown in Fig. 2 as carrying a trolley 18 with a brush element A dependent therefrom.

There is also indicated in Fig. 1 a discharge pipe 19, which maybe considered as leading from a suction dredge, the pipe 19 discharging into the stream or over the fill near the bank of the stream and in the @upstream direction from the sunken dam termined directions.

in wedge or similar angular shape with the inclined upper surface an essential part, and the attachment of the lines or cables so arranged that the force of the flowing stream operating on the Wedge or inclined surface causes the depression of the dam units to the bottom of the stream, where they will accumulate silt or sand or other heavy material carried by the stream and tending to overcome the buoyancy of the normally floating unit. V

The essential parts of the unit arethe inclined upper surface, the anchor cable and its position and connection to the dam element at an'intermediate point of its length. This causes the wedge shape unit-to incline downwardly toward the upstream end, the high end of the dam element being clownstream. The use of brush has an advantage in that silt will deposit in the interstices, thereby helping in the buildingof the dam and, moreover, the use of brush lessens the cost of building, since it is usually a waste material to be obtained in plentiful quantities, either on theshores ofthe stream or closely adjacent'thereto.

A single anchorage cable is ample and no 1 weight need be added to sink the units in the water, the river flow immediately causing the automatic sinking upon immersion because of the position of the anchorage which causes the upstream end to dip downwardly as though the element were pivoted to the anchorage. f In cases where an aerial cableway is available, no false work or obstruction in the water is needed and the damming backof thestream is not necessary until the time that such obstruction is actually required. The anchorage posts or'dolphins are spaced apart 100 feet or more and the relatively great separation of these dolphins does not constitute an obstruction to the stream. Again, the manner of sinking the bundles or units does not require that the stream be by-passed during the period when the bundles are being placed. v

\Vhile the unit or mattress is caused to sink. though normally buoyant, and is kept submerged by the force of the flow of the stream against it due to the manner of anchorage, the unit cannot submerge deeper than the river bottom against which it'is held, because of the manner of attachment of the anchorage cable thereto.

This application is specific to a wedgeshaped dam elementwhich is the preferred form of my invention. In another application filed March 14th, 1922, Serial No. 543707, I have disclosed various modified forms and have embraced in said applicatlon generic claims which cover the dam element in any form wherein a flat side or face is present.

What is claimed is 1. In dam construction, wedge-shaped dam elements, anchoring means in upstream spaced relation to. the dam site, and connections from the anchoring means to each wedge=shaped element connected to the up per surface of the latter intermediate of its length, with the thinend of the wedge di-' rected upstream.

2. In dam constructlon, dolphins rising from the bed of the stream and spaced upstream from the locationof the dam, wedgeshaped dam elements with the thin edge of the wedge directed upstream, and cables having loops secured to the dolphins and also secured to the dam elements intermediate the length thereof, whereby the velocity of the stream acting upon the inclined faces of the dam elements tends to depress the elements in opposition to the buoyancy thereof until said elements are arrested by the bed of the stream.

3. In dam construction, a Wedge-shaped dam element formed of top and bottom skel- 1 eton frames, and a filling of brush or the like, dolphins rising from the bed of the stream and spaced upstreamsfrom the location of the dam, and cables secured to the dolphins and to the Wedgesurfacesof the dam elements intermediate of the length of the elements whereby the thin end of the wedge is presented upstream and the wedgeshaped element is held at an angle to cause I FREDERICK N. ORONHOLM. I 

